Culture

agga Jammeya,fazar di baangay Laudhay vele khed da firay. Jagga jammeya te milan vadhaiyan vadda hoke dakay marda. Jagge mareya Lyllpur daka taran kharhak gayian. Jagga was born in 1901 or 1902 in village Burj Singh Wala,teh. Chunnian,distt. Kasur. Jagga’s father Makhan Singh passed away when Jagga was only a small child. He grew up under the care of his Chacha Roop Singh and mother Bhagaan. Makhan Singh and Bhagaan had six children before Jagga was born but nobody of them survived. At last Makhan Singh went to the nearby village Sodhiwala to meet and pay tribute to a saint Sodhi Inder Singh. Sodhi Inder Singh told them to buy a Bakkra (male goat) before the birth and told that it should be touched by the newly born. The Sage Inder Singh also told them to not to name the child with initials of J. But when the child was born, an uncle of the child insited on naming the child Jagat Singh which was against the directions of the saint. In a few days Bakkra fell ill and died. So in the course 12 Bakkras died and were buried in the backyard. Finally young child survived by the great saint’s blessings. Jagga owned 10 muraba(250 acres of land) so he was not asked to do anything by his chacha and mother. He was grown up as a pampered child. Once he cut a lot of sugar cane from his one uncle and distributed those to his friends. For that, he was given a hard beating by his uncle. Jagga went at night and broke all the Tinds of his uncle’s khuh and threw into the well. When this uncle told his shirika to go to the police and report against Jagga, the relatives asked him, “who told you to name him Jagga?” So he realized his mistake. In village Burj Singh Wala, most families were Muslim Telis but only 17 or 18 families of Sidhu Jatts. Both communities used to live in harmony. When Jagga was in his teen age, he started to go wrestle at akhara (Open Wrestling Ring) with his friend Sohan Teli. Sohan Teli maitained his friendship with Jagga till the last breath of Jagga. Because of Jagga’s fondness of wrestling, this is said in a folk song. Jagge Jatt da jahngiya patt da killay uttay tangeya reha. Jagga married Inder Kaur of village Talwandi. They had only a girl child, Gaabbo who is living now at village Vanwala near Lambi in Mukatsar distt. She is believed to be in her 80s now. During the English rule, all the people of guts and independant nature were watched carefully by the British. Govt’s first units of Informers were Patwari, Nambardar,Thanedar and Safedposh. Jagga was of a medium height, wheatish color, sharp features, strong body, trimmed beard and double ringed kunddian muchhan. One day Jagga went to Patwari to get the numbers (farad) of his land. Jagga paid no respect to the Parwari and paid no bribe. Patwari refused to give him the Farad. Jagga gave him the worst beating of his life that he had to give him farad and apologize as well. In one of the folk songs we hear, Kachay pulaan te larhaiyan hoiyan Chhaviyan de ghund murh gaye. This Kacha Pul was located between Jagga’s village Buraj and his in law’s village Talwandi. Beharhwala’s Nakai used to live at their Bhua’s village in Talwandi. These Nakai had some relation with Maharja Ranjit Singh’s in-laws and were very notorius for their evils. Nobody could cross the bridge without their permission. One day,when Jagga was going to cross the bridge, one of the Nakai hit his horse with bamboo club (daang) thus horse and Jagga both fell. Though Jagga was alone, Nakais were 5-6 brothers. They had a fierce fight and finally Jagge ne vahni paa lae (gave them a tough beating). Later those Nakais fled the area and settled in Lahore. Jagga’s fame in the area resulted in attracting the ire of the Jaildar of Kal Mokal. Jaildar considered Jagga’s braveness to be a challange. He stucked Jagga in a false case and convicted him for 4 years in the jail. When Jagga got released and came back to Buraj, in those days in vill. Bhai Feru a theft incident happened. The inspector of the area was a person named Asgar Ali who was a friend of Jaildar. Both Jaildar and inspector found this theft incident to be another chance to harass Jagga. They called Jagga to apear at the police station but Jagga declined to go. The leading and friendly people of Jagga persuaded him to appear at Police station. Their names were Kehar singh and Mehal Singh of Kawaan village and Dulla Singh of Jajjal village. This Dulla Singh made Jagga his Dharam da Puttar. (In later days this Dulla Singh and his family killed 8 people and were hanged to death). Jagga agreed to go to the police with them but on the way he disagreed to go as he thought the haughty nature of inspector Asgar Ali. He said his fellows clearly, “If this inspector said something insulting, that will be hard to swallow for me. That’s why I’m not going back.” From that day Jagga went underground and became a Dacoit. First he snatched a riffle from a police sapoy then another from Atma Singh of Acharke village. The first decoity by Jagga was at village Ghumiari at some goldsmith’s house. Ghumiari vilage is located at the border of Kasur and Lohore distts. Jagga’s other companions were Jhanda Singh Nirmal Ke and Thakur Singh Mandeyali. They robbed all the gold from them and lit fire to Vahis(ledgers) which were the loan records of the poor mass. They shared the gold at Jhanda Singh’s khuh which was almost 1/2 ser(4 pounds?) for everyone in the group. After that Jagga made his own group. His new members were Banta Singh,his childhood friend Sohna Teli,Lalu Nai (he was Kaana from one eye), Bholu and Bawa. Lalu Nai was an expert in cooking, when all used to sleep at night Lalu Nai was guarding them with riffle. Jagga used to tell police in advance whatever village he went. “Capture me there or don’t vex the innocents” were his words. Once he went to his nanke (maternal grandparents home) at village Ghumman Ke to watch a drama. Even though he had sent an advanced notice to police, no police personnel came all night. Jagga torned all the ledgers of that village’s Bania and Shahukars and freeholded the poors from heavy loans. A woman from village Lakhu ke was his dharam Bhen (baptised sister) who used to serve them food. Jagga gave her countless gold coins. Samelike once Jagga saw an old man with no warm clothes selling carrots in extreme cold,when asked, that oldman had no son or daughter. He gave him plenty of gold. In those days police would sleep in locked police stations,from the fear of Jagga. Police feared Jagga would decoit them their riffles and other amunition. Inspector Asgar Ali made the two entrances of the station for his protection. Jagga knew that dacoits don’t live long lives.He engaged his daughter to his fellow Kehar Singh Kawan’s younger brother Makhan Singh’s son Avaar Singh. He made all the arrangements and sent all gold and dowry even before the marriage. Oneday Jagga decided to go to Sidhupur with his companions. He decided to spend that noon in Malangi’s house. He asked his fellow, Lallu Nai to arrange the food. Lallu Nai’s village Lakhu Ke was very near from Sidhupur. Lallu Nai called his five brothers in guise to meet him and told them to bring food and sharab with them. Jagga decided to have a few drinks before the meal. Jagga and Banta started drinking while Sohan Teli had to go to meet a friend in the neibouring village and Lallu Nai had to do watching with his brothers. So they didn’t drink. For sometime they enjoyed drinking and talking. Malangi’s mother’s was in such a happy atmosphere first time in two years. That day Malangi’s mother was feeling like Malangi is back in Jagga’s disguise. Jagga told the old woman that O mother, Malangi’s soul might not be in rest till his revenge is not taken. Today is the day to take care of his complaints. All ate meal happily together, Sohan Teli went to meet his friends. Lallu Nai and his brothers went out for their watchman job with their riffles. Intoxicated with alcohol, both jagga and Banta slept that hot afternoon on a Manja under the Boharh tree in the yard. Suddenly, Lallu Nai and his brothers started to shoot the sleeping and intoxicated Jagga and Banta repeatedly. Sohan Teli came back after hearing the shooting. He was also shot dead from behind by one of Lallu Nai’s brother when he started attacking Lallu. Jagga vaddeya bohrh di chhanve naun man ret bhij gaee Purna, Naiyan ne vadd chhaddeya Jagga soorma. With the news of Jagga’s death the whole area was under shock and sorrow.Nobody believed Jagga Soorma’s death. As a reward Lallu Nai got ten murabas of land and a Ghorhi from the govt. He was imprisoned later in some other case where he was beaten to death by some prisioners. Jagga lived for only 29 years of his age. And moreover all his adventures and dacoities happened in a short span of only 3 months

The tradition of Punjabi basket weaving.
There was a time when Punjabi villages were completely self-dependent. Crucial items of daily use– like tokri (baskets) and gohle (pots) were widely manufactured locally. The baskets in particular were made out of the wood of Mulberry trees (shahtoot), which were a staple part of the landscape of pre-modern Punjab. These trees, crucial to a number of traditional crafts, were quite common alongside wells and fields but you would be lucky to come across them in rural Punjab today.
Mulberry trees used to be associated with a number of other uses as well. Owing to the density of its canopy, it was popular among the travelers for a rest under unrelenting summer heat. The wood of these trees was also used for various traditional games – the flexible timber being ideal for little boys to fashion rural bows and arrows. These trees have also entered the common culture, being associated with a number of folk songs as well, the most popular of them being Malkiat Singh’s ‘Tutak tutak tutiaan’.

The baskets or tokre made from mulberry trees’ wood were used for a number of purposes. Women used to carry the food for their husbands in the fields. These were also used for feeding the buffaloes and cows and, upturned, for providing warmth to hens and chickens at night. The waste of domesticated animals was disposed off using these baskets and this practice resulted in development of a number of teasing folk songs over time.
Sickles were used to cut mulberry wood into sticks and these sticks were woven by experienced craftsmen. Heavier sticks were used to weave bigger baskets – ‘tokra’ and slender ones were used for weaving smaller baskets – ‘tokri’. The diameter of a bigger basket (tokra) used to be around 3 ft and the smaller basket (tokri) used to be around half a foot smaller than that.
The practice of weaving and using these baskets (tokri and tokra) is, sadly, dying a slow death. Most of the new age villagers prefer solid baskets made of plastics and the household trade of weaving these baskets is rapidly on the decline. These are hardly to be seen in the modern Punjab and the urban kids are becoming oblivious to their rich cultural past quite rapidly.

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With the onset of Winter, Saag is made in all Punjabi houses.Saag is more common in the Pakistani and Indian region of Punjab, especially sarson da saag, where it may be eaten with makki ki roti. This roti is made of corn flour and is yellow in colour, though it can also be eaten with other breads. Saag/saj however can be a catch-all term for various green-leaved dishes. Saag aloo (spinach potato) – and saag gosht (spinach and meat) in Pakistan – is a common dish in Punjabi cuisine (both Pakistani and Indian) as served in restaurants and take-aways in the Western world

ساگ پنجاب کی ایک بہت ہی مشہور ڈش ہے ساگ کا نام آتے ہی منہ میں پانی آنا شروع ہو جاتا ہے جیسے ہی سردیاں شروع ہوتی ہیں پنجاب کے گھر گھر سے ساگ پکنے کے خشبو آنا شروع ہو جاتی ہے

یہ شلجم کے سبز پتوں سے بنتا ہے سرسوں کے پتے بھی استعمال کیے جاتے ہیں اگر ساگ دیسی گھی میں بنایا جائے تو لذت سے بھرپور ہوتا ہے سرسوں کا ساگ دیسی گھی اور مکئی کی روٹی سے ہر پنجابی اچھی طرح واقف ہے ساگ ایک لذیذ ڈش ہونے کے ساتھ ایک صحت بخش ڈش بھی ہے اس لیے آج تک اسکی مقبولیت میں کمی نہیں ہوئی

شلجم اور سرسوں کے کھیت شہروں میں نہیں ہوتے اس لے شہری آبادی پوری طرح اس ڈش کے مذے نہیں لے سکتی ان کو ساگ یا تو بازار سے خریدنا پڑتا ہے یا پھر گاوں میں رہنے والے اپنے عزیزوں سے منگواتے ہیں

ساگ کو سب سے زیادہ وہ دوست یاد کرتے ہیں جو پنجاب سے دور یا بیرون ممالک کام کرتے ہیں کیونکہ وہ لوگ ساگ کا ذائقہ نہیں چکھ پاتے

(عامرعرفان جوئیہ)

In Punjab Pakistan Chapriyan, Cow dung is collected and made into flat round ‘chapri’ which are dried on walls and roofs and then sold as fuel and used extensively on cooking fires and for heating. It has many other uses, including fertiliser and as a flooring material when mixed with mud and water